Shoalhaven Council’s controversial vehicle-mounted licence plate recognition camera system has been scrapped six-weeks into a three month trial.
The trial was intended to be used during routine parking patrols to take photos of vehicles that may have been identified to be parked illegally.
The licence plate recognition technology used in-vehicle mounted cameras to take pictures of cars with GPS location and timestamping.
It then alerted Council Rangers to potential breaches with regard to overstayed vehicles in timed carparks.
The system was used in Berry, Nowra, Huskisson and Hyams Beach.
A report presented to Shoalhaven Council this week found the technology fell short.
The system failed to integrate with Council’s IT systems and required manual adjustment to allow the issuing of penalties to offenders.
The report also found that feedback received from the public on social media, customer call backs and local business chambers were generally not supportive throughout the trial period.
Key themes arising from community feedback conveyed a perception that the trial was predominantly a revenue raising strategy rather than its intended purpose of providing staff and road safety and vehicle turnover in the busy commercial areas.
Locals also reported they had been fined for parking infringments despite moving their vehicles to a different location.
A total of 3,242 parking penalty notices were issued in the trial period.
The total parking fines issued as a result of the Licence Plate Recognition System was 89.
That equates to 2.75% of total parking fines issued during that period.
